Workflow architecture

Design before you build. Write down what starts the workflow, what data moves through it, which steps a machine does, which steps a person does, and where a human approval is required before anything irreversible happens.

Be specific about the approval points. Anything that spends money, contacts a customer, changes a record of truth or cannot be undone gets a person in front of it. This is not caution for its own sake — it is what lets you deploy a workflow into a real department without the department blocking it.